Durango’s mountain biking talent will be on full display in front of a global audience once more.
Four of Durango’s finest cyclists are set to compete for the United States team in the 2014 Union Cycliste Internationale Mountain Bike World Championships, which will run Sept. 2-7 in Hafjell, Norway.
Kaylee Blevins, Howard Grotts, Sepp Kuss and Todd Wells all will be in attendance to compete in the cross country discipline.
Leading the charge is Wells, a three-time Olympian and three time cross country mountain biking national champion. He will compete in the cross country world championships after earning an automatic bid thanks to winning the USA Cycling 2014 Cross Country Mountain Bike national championship July 19 in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
“If I can get a top 10, that’s what I’m shooting for,” the Specialized Factory Racing star said. “Of course, I would want to win and would love to get a medal, but I haven’t raced as much internationally and have been doing more long-distance races.”
Wells picked World Cup points leader Julien Absalon of France, his Specialized teammate Jaroslav Kulhavy and reigning world champion Nino Schurter of Switzerland as his three favorites to win the world title.
“Nino has been super strong the last four or five years, and Absalon is a multi-time world champ,” the 38-year-old Wells said. “Jaroslav is the current Olympic champ and just won the marathon world championships a few weeks ago.”
Wells said not racing as many international races this summer has helped him compete in a higher volume of races, as his body hasn’t had to frequently adjust to all the travel.
Wells currently is training in Leadville at 10,152 feet elevation for the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race.
“After Leadville, I will switch modes back into cross country training. I will go over to Europe for the world cross country finals in France two weeks before the world finals. I will get used to the time zone and back in the swing of the shorter, more intense races,” he said. “I haven’t been to the course in Norway, and last year was the first time they used it as a World Cup finals.”
Though Wells is uncertain if he can reach a podium in Norway, he has confidence in a pair of other Durango cyclists in Grotts and Kuss.
Both Grotts and Kuss will race in the under-23 cross country mountain bike world championship race. Grotts, a Durango High School alumnus and son of Don Grotts and Debbie Williams, received an automatic bid, while Kuss,son of Dolph and Sabina Kuss, was taken with a discretionary selection.
Grotts, a Specialized Racing XC rider, earned his nod on the heels of winning the Missoula XC and a third-place result at the World Cup No. 4 race in Albstadt, Germany.
“Howard has been on the podium in a few U23 World Cup races,” Wells said of Grotts. “He has a great shot at getting a medal.”
Wells had equal praise for Kuss, who placed third at the national championships and seventh at the Wisconsin Off Road Series Cup in Portage, Wisconsin.
“Since our national championships, Sepp’s form is coming on. He’s been close to getting on the podium at a World Cup last year in Italy, and I think if he continues to build his form and stays healthy, he has a shot to medal,” Wells said. “Durango has some legitimate shots at medaling over there.”
Also competing at the under-23 level but on the women’s side is Durango High School alumna and Bear Development team rider Kaylee Blevins.
Blevins, 19, earned a discretionary selection onto the team after finishing third in the under-23 cross country race at the national championships. She also finished sixth in the Super D race that weekend.
She recently completed her first under-23 World Cup event in Canada and is gearing up for the world championship race.
“I had a pretty solid race in Canada. Not my best, but it was my first U23 World Cup, and it was an exciting event that I was happy to go with USA Cycling for,” said Blevins, daughter of Priscilla and Field Blevins. “I’m very excited to go with the team to the worlds, and it is an honor to get this opportunity.”
Blevins said racing at the under-23 level instead o the juniors level has been a big step up in competition, especially at the international level.
“The bigger age group is more competitive. There are fast girls from around the world, and I am excited to take it as a learning experience and learn whatever I can,” she said. “I’ll do my best.”
Blevins never has raced in Norway before despite an abundance of European race experience.
She said she is thankful to have time to return to Durango for a full week before having to head to Europe, especially with her freshman year of college looming.
“I will be doing a lot of building and training at home. I’m getting ready for college, too, and it is a little bit challenging to balance it all,” she said. “I will be starting Stanford in September as soon as I get back from worlds.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
